Halliman LEBERT HALLIMAN has been one of the top coaches in local football for almost 20 years.
He has coached at every level of local club football and has had stints with the national under-17, Under-20 and under-23 teams. Halliman won the Caribbean Football Union's (CFU) Under-17 crown in 1995, beating Trinidad and Tobago.
It is at the schoolboy level, however, that he has had most of his success winning the Manning Cup three times, the Olivier Shield which Excelsior shared with Frome in 2004, and the Walker Cup on one occasion with Kingston Technical in 1991.
His first Manning Cup title came in 1987 when rank outsiders St. Andrew Technical whipped the Frank Brown-coached Excelsior High 6-1. It was St. Andrew Technical's first Manning title. Halliman has won the Manning Cup for the past two years with his alma mater Excelsior High.
At the club level he has won the Clarendon Division One title with Hazard (now Portmore United) and took that team into the National Premier League (NPL). He has also coached NPL teams Black Stars and De la Vega City, Jamaica Defence Force and Maverly.
Other achievements for the veteran coach who played club football for Barbican include winning the inter-collegiate title nine times and topping the Business House KO and six-a-side competition with West Indies Glass.
APPRENTICESHIP
He served his apprenticeship way back in 1977 with one of Jamaica's best-ever coaches, Winston Chung-Fah, at Clarendon College. His firmness on discipline and knowledge of the game then attracted the attention of others like former KSAFA executive member Russell Bell and Tony Robinson at Barbican, current Under-20 coach Jackie Walters and Steve Bucknor who was then a FIFA football referee and coach. They encouraged him to get into coaching.
Halliman, who began his coaching career taking charge of the Barbican Major League and Minor League teams in 1982, started his association with the national programme in 1984 when he assisted Walters and Bucknor who were the coaches of the national Under-20 team.
When Bucknor left Halliman was appointed the assistant to Walters and one year later was promoted to head coach of the Under-17s. One-On-One caught up with the winning Manning Cup coach last Friday.
QUESTION: You have been coaching at the schoolboy level for 20 years, where was your first job?
LEBERT HALLIMAN: Garvy Maceo High in the daCosta Cup. While with the national programme in 1984, I met a lot of boys from the rural areas and three players from that school, Merrick Morrison, Paul Aquart and Alrick Thomas, convinced me to go down and coach the daCosta Cup team. I remained there for a year during which we reached the semi-final round before being knocked out by Cornwall College.
Q: St. Andrew Technical was your first Manning Cup team, how did you get into that school's programme?
LH: It was really taxing to travel from Kingston to the country (Clarendon) as I was working in the Newport West area. I was then employed at Jamaica Frozen Foods and the Business House football team, of which I was the captain, trained at St. Andrew Technical's ground. The principal, S.W. Isaac-Henry, often watched us at training and one day he invited me to come and coach the school's team. It was the start of a very successful stint.
BIG VICTORY
Q: You defeated Excelsior by a large margin for your first Manning Cup title in 1987, what would you say was the main reason for the big victory?
LH: The boys were playing together over a three-year period and they developed a certain level of discipline, the right attitude and love for each other. Playing together over a period of time really makes a big difference.
Q: You have won the Manning Cup with two schools, which victory has given you most satisfaction?
LH: St. Andrew Technical. Firstly it was very challenging, secondly it was my first title and thirdly we were the underdogs. Also I wanted to win because I was turned down when I requested to coach my alma mater. Thus that final to me was more than just a game.
Q: Who are some of the best players you have coached?
LH: Anthony Corbett at Hazard, Paul Young who started at Barbican Minor League, Michael Fray, Garfield Dyke, Steve 'Bubbler G' Garwood and Peter Isaacs, all of Wolmer's, Maurice Cyrus the
former goalkeeper who got a
hat-trick in the 1987 Manning final for STATHS, Oneil 'Chippy' McDonald at Kingston Technical and Ricardo Ximines and Horace Howell at Excelsior.
BEST LOCAL PLAYERS
Q: Who are the best local players you have seen?
LH: Former national players Herbert Gordon and Allan Cole were head and shoulders above the rest as forwards. At midfield my favourite was Peter 'Dove' Marston, defender Frank Brown and my pick as goalkeeper is Orville Edwards.
Q: What would you say is the main reason for Jamaica's early exit from the World Cup qualifying for 2006?
LH: I think from the start we were not aware of where we were going. We did not try to develop our players at home. Training together every day and living together is not the same as picking up eleven stars. There was no commitment from the overseas players. Pride was also lacking in the team and those combined to be our downfall.
Q: What do you think should be done as we look forward to 2010?
LH: I think we have the players here. There is a need to spend some time and develop these players and give them the exposure. We should identify the best crop of players, get them out of the clubs and put them somewhere, possibly G.C. Foster College. We can then have them travelling at least twice a month playing in the Caribbean or another region. We should have a full-time coaching staff as we need to develop their technique and to get them tactically aware and physically very strong. We also need to get our track coaches involved. We have some of the best track coaches in the world and we have never included them in the football programme. Speed in today's football is a vital asset.
MORE ATTENTION TO
LOCAL COACHES
Q: What about our football coaches?
LH: Not enough attention is being paid to our coaches. We have more trainers than coaches and this is affecting the development of our football. We need to send our best coaches to Europe for training stints. I would recommend Holland and Germany.
Q: What is your opinion, should we have a foreign or local coach?
LH: I do not have a problem with either. I will say, however, that the local coach should get the same support as the foreign coach. On the other hand the local coaches need to be firm as they have not been able to command the respect of administrators and players.
Q: What are your hobbies?
LH: I love to watch football and horse racing.
Q: What do like to eat most?
LH: I like fruits and vegetables.
Elton Tucker
